Thursday, July 13, 2023

7/13 WAKE-UP CALL: NATO Reaffirms Commitments To Ukraine


Two days of NATO meetings ended with an agreement about a timeline for Ukraine’s admission to the alliance. The bloc reaffirmed political commitments to Kyiv and promised to restock its arsenal. On the sidelines, the Group of Seven nations, which includes six NATO members and Japan, prepared to offer Kyiv interim security assurances that they said should help until it becomes a NATO member. The official alliance communiqué committed to inviting Ukraine to join when conditions are met, including democratic and security-sector changes.

Zelenskyy defends use of cluster bombs, meets with Biden Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defended his country's use of cluster munitions on Wednesday amid criticism from U.S. lawmakers, pledging at a NATO summit to use the weapons system responsibly. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it posed a "challenge" for President Joe Biden's administration to send his country the controversial bombs that have been banned by more than 100 countries. Russia is already deploying the bombs in Ukraine, he said. Later, Zelenskyy and Biden held a bilateral meeting as the Ukrainian leader sought additional firepower and looked to accelerate a NATO invitation.

➤FBI DIRECTOR SAYS IT 'ABSOLUTELY NOT' PROTECTING THE BIDEN FAMILY: FBI Director Christopher Wray insisted he is 'absolutely not' working to protect the Biden family as he insisted the agency has not been politicized during a face-off with Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz displayed a text message allegedly sent by Hunter Biden where the president's son wrote to a Chinese Communist Party official Henry Zhao on July 30, 2017 demanding money for a business deal. 'I'm sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment has not been fulfilled,' Hunter allegedly wrote at the time. 'You will regret not following my direction. I am waiting for the call with my father.'

➤FOX ANCHOR SAYS REPUBLICANS DROPPED THE BALL: Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer told his colleague Martha MacCallum that Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill “dropped the ball” during the Wednesday Congressional hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee grilled Wray on a number of topics, including the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, January 6th conspiracy theories, and Hunter Biden‘s criminal case. Hemmer told Fox News viewers that despite the heated questions levied at Wray, Republicans failed to make a “headline” out of the hearings.

➤INFLATION COOLS: Inflation cooled last month to its slowest pace since March 2021. The consumer-price index’s 3% climb in June from a year earlier released stress on Americans’ wallets, but remained strong enough to keep the Fed on course to raise interest rates to a 22-year high at their July meeting. The inflation report raises the question of whether the central bank will lift rates after that, as most officials projected last month. June’s inflation rate declined from 4% in May; the recent peak inflation rate of 9.1% was in June 2022, according to the Labor Department. U.S. stocks rallied after the report.


➤NYC MAYOR SAYS CRIME IS MEDIA HYPE:  Mayor Eric Adams used a new TV interview to downplay a recent poll revealing New Yorkers are still terrified about crime — and blamed the media for the latest numbers. A new Siena College poll revealed that 41% of New York State residents have “never” been as concerned about their personal safety as they are now – while a shocking 87% responded that crime is a very or somewhat serious problem in New York State and New York City. 


“They start their day picking up the news, the morning papers… and they see some of the most horrific events that may happen throughout the previous day,” a defensive Adams said during an interview with Fox 5 New York anchor Rosanna Scotto on Wednesday morning.  “We know it’s going to take time,” Adams acknowledges. “But if you lead off every day with some of the horrific incidents that take place in the city with 8.5 million people, there’s a feeling that you have.” “But unfortunately, we just report on things that actually happen,” anchor Bianca Peters responded.


➤VEEP EXPLAINS 'AI': AI is kind of a fancy thing. First of all, it's two letters. It means 'Artificial Intelligence," Harris told a roundtable gathering of labor and civil rights leaders in Washington DC on Wednesday. She continued: 'It's about machine learning, and so, the machine is taught - and part of the issue here is what information is going into the machine that will then determine - and we can predict then, if we think about what information is going in, what then will be produced in terms of decisions and opinions that may be made through that process.' The remarks drew criticism from conservatives on Twitter, especially after a clip of the event was posted by the Republican National Committee.

💸NO WINNER: The Powerball jackpot has hit $875 million after Wednesday night's drawing failed to yield a winner.  The life-changing jackpot has now rolled over - and the next draw will be on Saturday, where a lucky player from across the US may win big.  The winning numbers for Wednesday night's drawing were 23, 35, 45, 66, 67, and the Powerball was 20. The Power Play was 2X.

➤VITALE DISCLOSES THIRD CANCER BATTLE: Longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale has revealed the heartbreaking news that he has been handed a THIRD cancer diagnosis. Vitale tweeted on Wednesday evening that he had surgery in Boston this week, and tests revealed that he has vocal cord cancer. He said he will undergo six weeks of radiation treatments. 'I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops season kicks off in the fall,' Vitale tweeted, adding that his doctor 'feels that scenario is entirely possible.'

🎾IT’S ALCAREZ VS. MEDVEDEV IN WIMBLEDON SEMIFINALS: Carlos Alcaraz will go up against Daniil Medvedev in the Wimbledon pro tennis semifinals. It’s the first appearance in the semifinals for number one-ranked Alcarez, who defeated sixth-seeded Holger Rune 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4. Meanwhile, number three-ranked Medvedev fought off an impressive effort from American player Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

🎾ONS JABEUR DEFEATS ELENA RYBAKINA: Also on Day 10 at Wimbledon, sixth-seeded Tunisian champion Ons Jabeur defeated defending champion Elena Rybakina 6 (5)-7, 6-4, 6-1. It was a replay of their match in last year’s final, but Jabeur won this time. She’ll face number two-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.


🌪TORNADO NEAR O'HARE AIRPORT: VA tornado touched down Wednesday evening near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, prompting passengers to take shelter and disrupting hundreds of flights. There were no immediate reports of injuries. A confirmed tornado was on the ground around 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Chicago.By 8 p.m. the weather service said the Chicago forecast area was “currently tornado warning free.” It said the storm was moving east toward southwest Michigan, and a tornado watch was in effect into Thursday morning for parts of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.

Video from TV stations showed hundreds of people taking shelter in an O’Hare concourse. Some 173 flights departing the airport were canceled and more than 500 were delayed, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware.

➤DEVASTATED VERMONT TOWNS BRACE FOR MORE STORMS: Residents across Vermont are working on a monumental cleanup after historic rains fueled devastating floods that washed away roads, trails, crops and homes. "Vermonters have faced challenges before, and have always risen to meet the moment and overcome adversity," Gov. Phil Scott tweeted after two days of storms dumped up to 9 inches of rain in some areas. However, any break in wet weather looks to be short-lived. An "atmospheric traffic jam" will pound the Northeast with rounds of rain and severe thunderstorms late this week to early next week, AccuWeather said.

🌞TRIPLE DIGITS TEMPS IN SOUTHWEST: Southwestern states are preparing for temperatures in the triple digits, joining Texas and Oklahoma which are in the middle of a continuing heat wave, the National Weather Service said. Areas including Arizona, Nevada and Central and Southern California are forecast to be under a heat dome that could trap warmth in the region for up to two weeks. Several places could break heat records, meteorologists said. Nearly 104 million Americans were under an excessive heat warning or a heat advisory Wednesday evening, according to the NWS.



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